New Scientist reports: Last time you checked you were a conservatively dressed, 28-year-old man. But you look down and notice that you now have the legs of a 10-year-old girl and appear to be wearing a skirt. It turns out that this experience – facilitated by a virtual-reality headset and some brief arm-stroking – is [...]
May
7
Feeling bad about a decision? Wash your hands and forget about it!
New Scientist reports: Long a metaphor for the desire to distance oneself from immoral acts, hand washing doesn’t just wipe the conscience clean – it also changes how an individual regards a decision they have just made. Lady Macbeth notwithstanding, the physical act of washing one’s hands is known to ease the guilt we feel [...]
Apr
22
Where is the Male Pill?
The Australian reports IT’S not often a doctor gives you the green light to have unprotected sex, but that’s what happened to Melbourne couple Daniel and Debra Hughes. They’re part of a trial for a new male contraceptive. Once it was confirmed that the drug is working and the pair tested free of sexually transmitted [...]
Apr
2
Pig sushi gives hope to diabetes patients
New Scientist reports: Four more people with diabetes will soon be implanted with high doses of living pig cells coated in seaweed, bringing the prospect of widespread animal-to-human transplants a step closer. Several people in New Zealand and Russia with type 1 diabetes have already received the “pig sushi”, known as Diabecell, and now New [...]
Mar
15
The bag lady: Why do I get bags under my eyes when I’m tired?
“You look really tired, are you okay?” I hate this line of inquiry. You think it’s caring. You think it’s supportive. But really, someone has just looked you straight in the eye, and said “You don’t look too good,” and they have gotten away with it. When you’re feeling more like Sleepy and Dopey, than [...]
Mar
4
Why horny beetles do it better
New Scientist Reports In humans as in other animals, it’s usually the male of the species who bears arms. But in the epic battle for dung, it’s female beetles that have resorted to horned aggression. Nicola Watson and Leigh Simmons of the University of Western Australia, Perth, pitted female dung beetles (Onthophagus sagittarius) against each [...]
Mar
2
Fighting Farts with Fire
A good friend saw matches in my bag and asked, “Do you smoke Wendy?” “No,” I replied sheepishly, not wanting to reveal the true purpose of the matches. He looked at me quizzically. There was silence. I eventually spoke, “If you light a match it takes away the smell from a fart.” There was even [...]
Feb
20
Asparagus pee: spearheading the debate.
“I don’t smell my pee,” a friend said to me a little while ago. It might be a bizarre thing to say, but it was an honest answer to my question: “Have you noticed that when you eat asparagus your pee smells funny?” On the other hand, it was a little offensive of her. I [...]